Scaffolding



Jan. 7, 1947.

G. w. 'WETZEL SGAFFOLDING Filed Nov. 1, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet l a. ilzwzzez IN VEN TOR.

Jan. 7, 1947. G, w, WETZEL 2,414,078

SCAFEOLDIM I Filed Nov. 1, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 W I I Q Hi III:

1 E! ii a. fizz/@2242 INVEN TOR.

Jan. 7, 1947. e. w. WETZEL SCAFFOLDING Filed Nov. 1, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet6 'INVENTOR.

Patented Jan. 7, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SCAFFOLDING GeorgeWilbur Wetzel, Macon-lb, Ill.

Application November 1, 1945, Serial No.-'626,'0?"8 4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to scaffolding designed primarily for use bypainters and others who must usually use ladders or scaffolding inperforming their work on the walls of buildings and other structures. Itis an object of the invention to provide scaffolding which can becompactly collapsed when not in use but can be quickly set up and, whenproperly placed in position, will be held firmly attached to the wall orother surface on which work is being done.

A further object is to provide scaffolding which utilizes an attachingbracket of new and novel construction whereby it canjbe attached readilyto either fiat or angular surfaces and willact to hold the scaffoldfirmly in position.

With the foregoing and other objects in View which willappear as thedescriptionproceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details ofconstruction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully describedand pointed but in the claims, it being understood that changes maybemade in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing fromthe spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the scaffoldingerected at theside of a building outlined with broken lines.

Figure2 is a side elevation of a portion of the scaffolding, parts beingbroken away.

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section through one ofthe platformsupports of the scaffolding, some of the positions of the parts beingindicated by broken lines.

Figure e is a top plan view'of the structure ill'ustrat'ed in Fig. 3.

Figure 5 is an enlarged plan View of the attaching bracket equipped tohold a ladder in upstanding position.

Figure 6 is a side elevation of. the structure "shown in Fig. 5.

Figure 7 is a perspective view showing a portion of a ladder connectedto the bracket, parts of the bracket being removed.

. Referringto the figures by characters of reference, I designates abowed body. strip of the at- Iiachirig bracket which, as shownparticularly in Fig. 5, has'terminalloops 2 constituting bearings.Securedto one side of thisbodystrip at the centerthe'reo'f is an anglebracket 3 held in place preferablyby a bolt 4 which extends entirelythrough'the body strip.

"Depending fro'rnthebr'acket 3 is a fork 5 proportioned to receive 'oneend portion of a bolt '6 or the like extending from the wall W to whichthe bracket is to be connected.

The angle bracket 3 is located midway between the terminalloop's 2 andextends from the concave side of the body stri I. To this same side ofthe body strip are connected oppositely disposed adjustable arcna testrips 1 adapted to be held to the body strip I by bolts flins'ertabl'einto selected openings 9"in the strips I and 1; Thus these strips can beadjusted relative toea-eh other so as to change the relative positionsof the terminal loops I0 which are formed at these ends of the arcuatestrips 1 remote from the angle bracket 3. e

Normally registering openings II can be l'o cated in the loops 2' andIll and'these openings are adapted to receive tie bolts l2 which servenot only to hold the strips l and 'I properly assembled at their loopedends under normal working oonditions, but also serve to connect to theend per tions of strip I sidebraeket members I3 between which the bodystrip I is located. Each of th'se bracket members It which preferably isin the form of a'flat strip of metal, has an abutment root "M at that'end thereof nearest the bolt I2 and these feet are so positioned thatwhen the bracket isplaced against a Wall W, the feet will also bepressed against the wall, thereby holding the "side members insubstantially horizontal upstanding positions.

Secured to the convex side of the body strip I at the center thereof isayoke I5 extending in a direction opposite to the angle bracket 3andjh'ld in place preferably by the bolt 5. A spacingsleeve I6 isextended through the ends of the yoke l5 and serves to hold the sidemembers I3 properly spaced apart. This sleeve also contains atie belt I!which is extended through the members I3 so as to hold them assembledwith the sleeve 16. Also mounted on the tie bolt adjacent to the endsthereof are links I8 having stop lugs l9 adapted to be positionedbeneaththe side members I3 for the purpose of limiting the downward movement oflinks about the tie rod. These links are also provided with a spacingsleeve 20 and extending through this sleeve and the links is a tie rod2l The yoke I5 is proportioned to receive an upright member U of ascaffolding and obviously by first hooking the fork 5 onto theprojecting head ortion of a bolt or the like secured to a wall W, thestrip I will not only beheld firmly to the wall by the upright locatedin the yoke but will also be held assembled with the wall.

Should the bracket be located at the corner of a wall, it could beplaced astride the corner and held firmly simply by locating the bolt 6at the corner and then adjusting the strips 1 longitudinally so that theattaching bracket thus will straddle the corner. This has been indicatedby dotted lines in Fig. wherein the corner portion of a wall has beenshown at W.

For the purpose of adjustably mounting a platform on uprights of ascaffolding, each upright, after it has been set in place and secured bymeans of brackets such as already described. is equipped with a platformsupport which is illustrated in detail in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. Each ofthese supports includes side strips 22 having spacing blocks 23 and 24between the respective ends thereof. One of these spacing blocks istoothed or serrated as shown at 25 for engagement with one surface of anupright U. This upright is extended between the side strips 22 and isadapted to be adjustably engaged at its opposed surface by a ja 26extending transversely of the strips and slidable in slots 21 formed inthe strips. The jaw, which has a serrated engaging surface 28. isprovided wi h an adjusting screw 29 extending therefrom through a feedblock 30 interposed between and secured to the strips 22. Screw 29, whenrotated in one direction, will force the jaw 26 toward block 24 so thatuprights of different sizes thus can be tightly gripped and the strips22 held firmly thereto while extended substantially horizontally fromthe upright.

A pivot bolt 3| is extended transversely through the strips 22 betweentheir ends and has a brace 32 mounted at one end thereon while the otherend of the brace is extended between and detachably secured to spacedhangers 33. These hangers are joined at their u per ends to strips 22and block 24 by a bolt 34 while the other ends of the hangers areconnected to the brace 32 by a bolt 35.

Extending transversely through the strips 22 adjacent to the spacingblock 23 is a bolt 36 on which is pivotally and slidably mounted thelower end portion of a standard 31, the upper end of which is forked asshown at 38. This standard, which can be made up of parallel anglemembers, as indicated in Fig. 4, has longitudinal slots 39 in its lowerend through which the bolt 36 extends. When the standard 31 is inupstanding position substantially perpendicular to the side strips 22 ofthe platform support, the upper end walls of the slots 39 will beardownwardly on the bolts 36 while the adjacent portions of the standardwill be fitted tightly between the bolt and the spacing block 23.Consequently the standard 31 will be locked in upstanding position.However, by lifting the standard relative to the bolt 36 the lower endof the standard, which is rounded as indicated at 40, can clear thespacing block 24 as shown by full lines in Fig. 3 so that it thusbecomes possible to swing the standard 24 downwardly into the frameformed by the connected side strips 22 and into the space above thebolt- 3!. By disconnecting the hangers 33 from brace 32 the brace can beswung in the direction indicated by the arrow a in Fig. 3 until itassumes a position within the frame defined by the side strips 22 and asindicated by broken lines in said figure. After this brace has thus beenlocated, the hangers 33 can beswung into position upon the outer sidesof the members 22 and there held by reinserting the bolt 35 through thehangers 33 and through openings 4| provided in the members 22... Thusthe hangers will be held in the position indicated by broken lines inFig. 3. It might here be stated that when the standard 37 is folded intothe frame of the support the forks 38 will drop into the frame andopposite sides of the screw 29 and between jaw 28 and block 30.Thereafter the jaw 26 can be fed toward the block 30 so as to enter theforks 38 and thus hold the standard in folded position. It is thoughtthat this operation will be clear from a careful consideration ofFigures 2, 3 and 4 of the drawings.

When it is desired to use the structure constituting the presentinvention the wall engaging brackets are secured to the wall atpredetermined distances apart and at substantially the same elevationabove the ground. An upright U is then placed in engagement with each ofthese brackets and will be supported on the surface thereunder as shownin Fig. 1. Before these uprights are thus located the supporting frameswhich include the connected side strips 22 are mounted on the respectiveuprights. Said frames are then slid along the uprights to the pointswhere they are to be secured, the jaws 26 are adjusted to grip theuprights, and the hangers 33 are secured to the braces 32. The act oftightening each jaw 26 of course shifts its screw out of engagement withfork 38 so that the standards on the two frames 22 thus can be swung toupright positions and then lowered while in such positions so as tobecome locked by gravity.

A hand rail 42 can then be lowered into the forks as shown in Fi 1 andthe erection of the scaffolding is then completed and all that isrequired is to place a platform member in the form g1; a plant P or thelike on the supporting frames Obviously frames 22 can readil be adjustedupwardly or downwardly along the uprights to change the elevation of theplatform as the work progresses.

If it should be desired at any time to anchor the upper portion of aladder to the wall, the

frame 22 under the selected attached bracket can be lowered out of theway and the upper end portion of the ladder L can be inserted betweensleeves l6 and 20. The links I8 will of course permit angular adjustmentto allow for free insertion of the ladder between the sleeves. When thescaffolding is not in use the frame 22 can easily be lowered,disconnected from the upright and folded as already explained so as thusto occupy minimum space. The attaching brackets can be disconnected fromthe wall simply by lifting their forks 5 from engagement with theanchoring means 6 after which, by detaching the bolts 2 and 4, parts ofthis bracket can be com- -wall, oppositely disposed angularly adjustablemembers carried by the strip and positioned for thrusting engagementagainst said wall, means carried by the body strip for embracing theupright, and means adjustably mounted on the upright for supporting aplatform.

2. In a scaffolding an attaching bracket including an arcuate bodystrip, opposed arcuate strips adjustable longitudinally on the opposedportions of the body strip respectively, separate means carried by allof the strips for thrusting engagement with a wall or the like, meanscarried by the body strip and between its ends for detachable engagementwith an anchoring element, and means connected to the body strip forjoining an upstanding element to, the bracket.

In a scaffolding an attaching bracket including an arcuate body strip,opposed arcuate strips adjustable longitudinally onthe opposed portionsof the body strip respectively, separate means carried by all of thestrips for thrusting engagement with a wall or the like, means carriedby the body strip and between its ends for detachable engagement with ananchoring element, means connected to the body strip for joining anupstanding element to the bracket, said means including side membersconnected to the terminals of the body strip, a yoke secured to the bodystrip and between the side members, and

"separate relatively movable members connecting the side members to eachother and to the yoke.

4. In a scaffolding the combination with an upstanding member and meansfor detachably joining said member to a wall or the like, of a platformsupport embracing the member, cooperating fixed and movable jaws carriedby the support and engaging opposed faces of the member, normallyconnected means foldable relative to each other and to the support fornormally holding said support at a fixed angle relative to theupstanding member, a standard pivotally connected to the support andfoldable :thereunto, means on the standard for detachable engagement bya hand rail, gravity controlled means for holding the standard in anupstanding position relative to the support, and an adjusting screw inthe support for actuating the movable jaw, said screw constitutingmeans, when in jaw releasing position, for holding the standard infolded position within the support.

GEORGE WILBUR, WETZEL.

